The Undertaker: The legend of Mark William Calaway

alko

Registered User
Oct 20, 2004
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When i followed wrestling, this guy already began to make his tour in the WWF. Many will say, he was one of the greatest all time. Can we say, that his popularity was higher than Hulk Hogan in his prime time?

And where there any actions from WCW to bring him back? Some rumors here and there.
 

MetalheadPenguinsFan

Registered User
Sep 17, 2009
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I haven't watched wrestling since the Attitude era but I loved 'Taker. Especially during his "Ministry of Darkness" schtick. :yo:

Too bad they f***ing ruined that. :(

With that said, I don't think he was as popular as the Hulkster. Especially not when you had guys like Austin and The Rock around.
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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There is no way to say that Undertaker was more popular than Hulk Hogan. I find that there is a fair amount of revision regarding Undertaker's career. He was always behind Hart until Hart left, he was behind Michaels, then Stone Cold and Rock. He wasn't the face of the company like Hogan was, and he wasn't even #2. Great career though.

As for rumours, I don't think that there were any credible rumours of him going back to WCW. Michaels threatened it, Hart did it, but I never heard about undertaker leaving.
 

Balance

Jesus loves you!
May 20, 2013
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There is no way to say that Undertaker was more popular than Hulk Hogan. I find that there is a fair amount of revision regarding Undertaker's career. He was always behind Hart until Hart left, he was behind Michaels, then Stone Cold and Rock. He wasn't the face of the company like Hogan was, and he wasn't even #2. Great career though.

As for rumours, I don't think that there were any credible rumours of him going back to WCW. Michaels threatened it, Hart did it, but I never heard about undertaker leaving.

Undertaker always got better POP's than anyone else, including Hogan

Hogan was a household name, but thats because he was pushed like that. Taker got no where near the push Hogan got and yet still became a household name.
 

M.C.G. 31

Damn, he brave!
Oct 6, 2008
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He was never “the” guy so he was never bigger than Hogan. He was consistently on top, though and aged like fine wine and was putting on MOTYs up until he was 45 or whatever.
 

ColePens

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Mar 27, 2008
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I don't think Taker was ever THE guy. He reminds me of HHH. He was always a main eventer, no doubt about it. His career is tremendous. But I don't think he was ever "THE" guy.

Not putting Taker down. He's one of the greatest of all time. But he never was the main draw that filled the stadium such as your Hulk Hogans of the world.
 

GarbageGoal

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Taker was an attraction, like Andre. I feel like there was a time, in the Attitude era, when they turned him heel and he did the Corporate Ministry bit when he lost his pop.

But no, he was not for his career more popular than Hogan. Maybe now he's more loved, but not when they were active.
 

Kimi

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Jun 24, 2004
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The thing that skews perception of 'Taker is his longevity. He's been universally popular for his entire career, and leaves you with many generations of fans who remember him fondly. It warps his stardom into something that really isn't (along with WWE's constant fake history), as he was only ever 'one of the top guys', never the actual top.
 

Megahab

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Apr 30, 2009
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Undertaker always got better POP's than anyone else, including Hogan

Hogan was a household name, but thats because he was pushed like that. Taker got no where near the push Hogan got and yet still became a household name.

Hogan was 10 times the star Taker ever was.

Taker was pushed to the moon almost from day one. He has been the most protected wrestler in the last 25 years in terms of booking, at least as a face.
 

dahrougem2

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Dec 9, 2011
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Love Undertaker to death, think he's one of the greatest of all time and his longevity in the business is astounding.

That said, he wasn't always as revered. There was a period of time in Undertaker's career around roughly 2000-2004 where he was out of shape and not putting on great matches, and his character work wasn't the greatest, either.

It's a short blip on a phenomenal career, but with time people sometimes forget that Undertaker wasn't always as revered as he is today. He was never *the* guy in the company. He was behind Hogan/Warrior, then behind Hart/HBK, then behind Austin/Rock, then behind Cena/Batista and eventually just became a WM attraction. He'll always be one of the greatest, IMO his character is the greatest of all time in terms of pure gimmicks, but he's never been more popular than wrestlers like Hogan, Flair, Hart, Michaels, Rock, Austin, and Cena during their respective primes.
 

Bubba Thudd

is getting banned
Jul 19, 2005
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I know lots of people that hated Hogan (myself included).

I've never met anyone that didn't love the Undertaker.
 

Emperoreddy

Show Me What You Got!
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Hogan was 10 times the star Taker ever was.

Taker was pushed to the moon almost from day one. He has been the most protected wrestler in the last 25 years in terms of booking, at least as a face.

Man you must have just forgotten about him in the new gen then. He was regulated to the mid card monster of the week feuds. It was so bad I’m shocked he actually survived that period sometimes.
 

JackSlater

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Apr 27, 2010
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Undertaker always got better POP's than anyone else, including Hogan

Hogan was a household name, but thats because he was pushed like that. Taker got no where near the push Hogan got and yet still became a household name.

I don't really know what to say to this other than... no. Undertaker didn't get bigger pops than Hogan, and he certainly didn't get bigger pops than "anyone else" when that includes his contemporary Austin. I also doubt that Undertaker is a household name, at least anywhere near the level that Hogan was and is.

I will say for Undertaker that as poorly as he could be booked at times during the 90s and early 2000s, no one had a career twilight that was booked better than his.
 

GarbageGoal

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I think people should almost state their age and when they started following wrestling in these threads I'm 42 today and began watching in November of '84), because yeah if you started following it in 1993 Hogan was considered passe and the Undertaker was still hot.
 
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quoipourquoi

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Jan 26, 2009
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He's the Teemu Selanne of wrestling. Amazing debuts in the early-90s, hit their strides in 1997, faded significantly in the early-2000s, had big comebacks in the mid-2000s and huge championship spotlights in Spring 2007, while peppering in some highlights in decade-long farewell tours as basically their communities' favorite person. But they're not, like, the main guy or anything.
 
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Emperoreddy

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I think people should almost state their age and when they started following wrestling in these threads I'm 42 today and began watching in November of '84), because yeah if you started following it in 1993 Hogan was considered passe and the Undertaker was still hot.

But even if you started watching then. Brett and eventually Shawn were clearly the guys over Taker. Diesel too I guess.

Taker was no where near the belt in that era and was wrestling the oddities. He also lost a fair number of those feuds too.

Man Foley and a Paul Bearer heel turn cane just in time for Taker.
 

Emperoreddy

Show Me What You Got!
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I don't really know what to say to this other than... no. Undertaker didn't get bigger pops than Hogan, and he certainly didn't get bigger pops than "anyone else" when that includes his contemporary Austin. I also doubt that Undertaker is a household name, at least anywhere near the level that Hogan was and is.

I will say for Undertaker that as poorly as he could be booked at times during the 90s and early 2000s, no one had a career twilight that was booked better than his.

Taker is absolutely a household name.

He is one of 5-10 names almost every non-wrestling fan will know.
 

Megahab

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But even if you started watching then. Brett and eventually Shawn were clearly the guys over Taker. Diesel too I guess.

Taker was no where near the belt in that era and was wrestling the oddities. He also lost a fair number of those feuds too.

Man Foley and a Paul Bearer heel turn cane just in time for Taker.

Was Michaels really above Taker? I don't think so. Michaels was only a main eventer for about 2 years in the 90s. Taker was in some bad programs but he did main event a lot of shows, I would think more than Michaels. I remember hearing that anytime there would be an overseas tour, the two guys local promoters would want was Taker and Bret.
 

Disclose

WE GET THAT RENT MONEY
Aug 22, 2007
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i think both Taker and HBK would have had better title runs if it wasnt for injuries.
but Taker was definitely handicapped by a weird gimmick at the begining. where it was hard to be the guy, if you cant really talk outside a graveyard vignette.

i love Taker (hate when people call him by his name... why?). im full aware he wasnt the best in the ring, but without a doubt my favorite character and wrestler ever.
 

Loosie

The Eternal Optimist
Jun 14, 2011
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Undertaker always got better POP's than anyone else, including Hogan

Hogan was a household name, but thats because he was pushed like that. Taker got no where near the push Hogan got and yet still became a household name.

Especially when they started to turn the lights out and add the gong. Once Kane debuted it was fun, especially the summer of 1998. You would have the lights go out and everyone would go silent waiting for the organ or the gong.

And then when he became a part timer the pops got louder.

However nothing will ever top the pops Austin would get at the height of his popularity. Nothing got the crowd to pop like the glass shattering.
 

MetalheadPenguinsFan

Registered User
Sep 17, 2009
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Canada
Especially when they started to turn the lights out and add the gong. Once Kane debuted it was fun, especially the summer of 1998. You would have the lights go out and everyone would go silent waiting for the organ or the gong.

However nothing will ever top the pops Austin would get at the height of his popularity. Nothing got the crowd to pop like the glass shattering.

Agreed.

Anytime you heard that glass shatter you knew that "business was about to pick up" as ol' J.R. would say.
 

Ozz

Registered User
Oct 25, 2009
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Sigh...

Us old-timers and fans of silly gimmicks (or just Barry Darsow) always hoped once, JUST ONCE, the glass would mean Repo Man was on his way to steal someone's stuff.

Jokes aside, I remember when the Gimmick Battle Royal was held and Repo Man was in it. When I realized they were playing each wrestler's intro music, I immediately wondered if they'd do the glass for Repo. For obvious reasons they did not, but holy f*** that would have been hilarious to see everybody in the arena lose their mind and in walks Repo Man, a guy 50% of them or better had never heard of :laugh:
 

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